Bill would let judges stop nuisances

Ken Dixon

Updated 12:51 am, Thursday, May 16, 2013

HARTFORD -- State judges could close businesses deemed public nuisances, such as illegal massage parlors and bars with multiple instances of drug sales or firearms violations, under legislation that was approved Wednesday in the House of Representatives.

"This is a quality-of-life bill," said Rep. Auden Grogins, D-Bridgeport, who led the floor debate.

The bill is a follow-up to related legislation last year that made it easier to pursue the owners of illegal massage parlors in Bridgeport, particularly in Grogins' Black Rock neighborhood.

After that legislation was passed, Bridgeport police shut down 10 massage parlors operating illegally and arrested several people for prostitution. But within days, some locations had reopened and police had to return to shut them down once again.

Under this new bill, state prosecutors could seek court-ordered remedies against companies and building owners, including agreements to stop illegal activity.

Nuisances include the manufacture of illegal drugs, as well as excessive noise at commercial locations, as measured by local police with decibel meters and using local standards, Grogins said.

"In Bridgeport they have to measure the noise before and after," she said. "So they'd have to know the reading before the nuisance noise, and afterwards. Or, as a police officer indicated to me that if you could hear the noise from three blocks away, that would be objectively unreasonable noise and in violation of the municipal ordinance."

The bill passed the state House 131-5 and next heads to the Senate. Lawmakers who voted against the measure included Rep. Dan Carter, R-Bethel.

In related action, the state Senate voted Wednesday night to approve legislation that would make it easier to trace the owners of blighted properties, by requiring mailing addresses of owners on land-conveyance documents.

Sen. Andres Ayala Jr., D-Bridgeport, said the bill is necessary to get landlords to keep their properties from becoming blighted.

"Part of the problem is they're not able to communicate with property owners," Ayala said. Property owners are responsible for municipal costs of cleanup.